


Fresh Pastry

by bumkeyk2



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, coffee shop AU, please let me know if you're interested!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 15:49:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15952550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bumkeyk2/pseuds/bumkeyk2
Summary: Coffee, the night sky, and the ocean. That is all Kihyun has after giving up on university and his friends leaving him behind.That is, until a new college-dropout barista starts working at his local seafront cafe, bringing hope and possibly much more into his solitary life.(coffee shop/bakery au)





	Fresh Pastry

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone who clicks on this :) If you are reading this, I have to say that this entry is not a full fic, and that this part I have posted is not the full fic.  
> I have held this plot close to my heart for many months now, and have just begun to write it out. Therefore, I hope to ask any readers of this small part of what I plan for this story to become to please leave feedback.  
> For example, do you want to read more, is my writing style okay, etc? thank you so much, I would really appreciate any comments telling me how to make this fic better from the beginning and whether I should continue. <333333333

September

Eight o’clock. The start of his shift. Kihyun sighed, and sank further back into his seat behind the counter, its firm plastic back creaking at the added weight. He looked around at his surroundings again – the same he’d seen day in, day out, since the start of that summer. Labels in faded primary colours lined the shelves, the refrigerator hummed in the background, and a basket of marigolds sat in front of the window, their harsh orange petals contrasting with the dim atmosphere of the convenience store. Kihyun really hoped someone would buy them soon, so he could finally stop looking at their gradually decaying flowers, but the only customers he got on his shift were drunks and smokers in the late hours of the night. Kihyun thought of this as he rested his head back on the shelves full of cardboard cigarette boxes, their packaging paled by the sun and advertising numerous nicotine-caused diseases and illnesses. He liked to stare at them when his shift got _really_ boring to remind himself that at least his life wasn’t _that_ bad, that at least he didn’t resort to smoking for his problems.

Another sigh. He turned his gaze to the front window, sitting even further back and folding his arms, and noticed the darkening blue of the evening sky which made the flickering yellow lighting of the store seem even more bright and unpleasant than during the day. The sun probably sank further below the horizon hidden behind the buildings of the street, the blackness of the sky coming earlier each day as the beginning of autumn began to set in. The air outside was more biting, a seemingly sudden shift from the scorching summer days which seemed in that moment so long ago. Kihyun, however, remembered that he didn’t get to enjoy it much, spending most of his time inside or sitting behind an unwiped counter before the sun came up. 

He didn’t know what had possessed him to take the night shift since summer – hardly any customers came in – but it seemed to depress him even more when he had to watch fast-paced busy workers, or happy couples waltz past the window, smiling and holding hands, when he had shut himself away from that kind of living. The night shift offered solitude, but it also fed loneliness. But then again there was no point in quitting, now that his only friend, Minhyuk, had left for university without him a few weeks ago.

Kihyun frown turned down slightly at this thought, but it was his own decision to back out of joining him, and besides, they didn’t really speak much recently anyways. Minhyuk’s excitement at the prospect of going to university didn’t transfer over to Kihyun, and he found that they didn’t particularly share a lot in common anymore, thus resulting in their awkward goodbye. Since Minhyuk’s departure, they hadn’t talked, their only communication being Minhyuk’s confirmation of his arrival, and a ‘Have fun’ from Kihyun, left on read. Perhaps their childhood friendship was over, Kihyun thought, as they carved separate paths, and perhaps he thought it was for the best. And the disappointment of his parents on top of it all…

He blinked slowly, and tapped his cheek, trying to rid the negative thoughts that always caught up to him when the sun began to set. Shadowy figures hurried past the door, each seeming as if they were consciously avoiding the convenience store, dark silhouettes and silence caused by the glass door between them. Maybe a few slowed down, to uninterestedly browse the window, but the only thing really visible from outside on the street was that god awful bowl of flowers and Kihyun’s downcast, empty stare behind the counter.

They all moved on. The same as every night. 

It seemed the only interaction Kihyun was meant to have, even beyond the summer, was men with sunken eyes and permanent frowns at three A.M, slamming down whisky or beer or vodka and their damp, frayed money, who left without giving Kihyun even a friendly word. The same thing every day. Kihyun had honestly started to think that that was what the rest of his life would be like, and that nothing would change.

.

A delicate petal fell to the linoleum. 

.


End file.
